Before we ask how to help someone who is struggling, we have to ask what a human being is. That was the conviction behind our first monthly lesson with Dr. Daniel Berger, author of Saving Abnormal, who has been teaching a new series for Biblical Counselors Society on a biblical worldview of mental disorder.
Dr. Berger told us plainly why he is doing this. “My heartbeat going forward in ministry is to train others to do the work of ministry.” This first session was an introduction, and it gave us a great deal to think about. Here are the insights that stayed with us.
Start with the end in mind: the superior life
Dr. Berger began with John 10:10, where Jesus says He came to give life “more abundantly.” The Greek word, he explained, means superior. This is not a prosperity promise. Life in Christ does get better inwardly, even in sorrow, but the verse points finally to eternal life, when our souls are fully restored in God’s presence.
Reflecting upon this, Dr. Berger said he prefers the phrase “mental wholeness” to “mental health.” Every one of us lacks that wholeness because of the Fall, and every one of us was designed for it. Only God restores it. He also shared an observation from his father, a Hebrew and Greek scholar, who says that in the Septuagint, the same Greek word for superior appears in Isaiah’s title for the Messiah, “Wonderful Counselor.”
Thus, the counsel of Christ is not a slightly better method. It is a wisdom not of this world, and it alone restores the soul.
Worldview comes before technique
If we skip straight to the practical, Dr. Berger warned, we will misread the vital issues and may begin to doubt that Scripture speaks to them at all. He noted that secular writers themselves admit the mental health system works more like a worldview than a medical science. So the question is not which techniques to borrow. It is which account of human nature is true.
Two passages framed the point. 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to cast down every high thing raised against the knowledge of God, and Dr. Berger stressed that this starts with the counselor’s own thinking before it is ever applied to a counselee. Colossians 2:8 warns against being taken captive by philosophy built on “the rudiments of the world.”
His caution was aimed at the church as much as the culture. A technique never arrives alone. It carries a doctrine with it, and most people who adopt one do so out of ignorance, not defiance.
He was equally clear about posture. Arguing point by point rarely changes anyone’s mind. Our calling is to lead, to hold up the sufficiency of Christ, and to let people follow.
The struggles are real; the labels deserve scrutiny
Dr. Berger was careful here. Anxiety, depression, and struggles with attention and behavior are real experiences. His concern is with the diagnostic constructs built around them, which he argues rest on materialism and determinism and treat every struggle as a physical problem by default.
That default, he said, removes the need for discernment. It can also hide real medical problems. He named Lyme disease, neurosyphilis, Huntington’s disease, and stroke as conditions that can produce symptoms labeled as schizophrenia.
He is not against medicine. He told us he has never counseled anyone to avoid or stop medication, and he believes serious presentations such as mania and psychosis often involve physical elements, especially disrupted sleep, that warrant medical evaluation alongside spiritual care.
James 5 calls the church to discern
Dr. Berger called James 5:13-16 one of the most misunderstood and under-taught passages of our time. He drew out a simple pattern.
- Suffering calls for prayer. James names prayer as the first response. The church has too often made it the last resort.
- Sickness calls for the elders, and they pray. The sick person takes the initiative to call them.
- The elders encourage medicine. Citing Jay Adams and Kent Hughes, he argued that “anointing with oil” uses the ordinary Greek word for rubbing or applying, and points to medicinal care more than ceremony.
- The elders ask whether sin is involved. Adams stresses that this is the rare case, not the rule, and the question belongs within relationship, never presumption.
The church loses this discernment in two ways: by handing everything over to psychiatric labels, or by ignoring the body altogether.
Where the series goes next
Dr. Berger laid out 3 stages for the months ahead:
- Why worldview matters, and what the secular system actually teaches.
- The phenomena of the soul, such as depression and anxiety, which Scripture addresses at length.
- Specific diagnoses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and OCD.
In the Q&A, he urged us not to chase new gimmicks or borrowed credibility, but to rest in the sufficiency of Scripture and to speak the truth in love. He closed by praying that we would lead and teach patiently, and trust God to bring people to the truth in time.
To participate in this ongoing course with Dr. Daniel Berger, consider joining our Community today. We meet every third Thursday at 1:00 PM Eastern (12:00PM Central).
Our thanks to Dr. Berger for his time and investment in Biblical Counselors Society.
